The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-08-06

l ouA i NeIS 49, ~ WYNN
very handy"
Mary Ann turned scarlet.
when you came to Maple Farm"
said she, 1--WE didn't set you to wash
ing dishes and feeding the pigs. We
were glad to see you; we gave you the
best in the house, and made you well
come"
''Eh?" said Miss Dickson.
"And I'm obliged to you, ali the
same" cried Mary Ann, incoherently :;
"but I'd rather not be hired maid at
half-price board to my own aunt. 1t
isn't money or secondhand clothes l
need so much, though I'm poor and
friendless enough, Heaven knows! but
it's some one to be kind to me. And
you always made as if you were very
fond Of me when you came to Apple
Farm"
"Things have changed since them"
exclaimed Miss Dickson, in a towering
passion.
''They have, indeed" said Mary Ann.
$50 goodbye, Aunt Polly. Idaresay
l shall find honest work somewhere.
If not, it won't be for lack of trying"
And Mary Ann took the next train
back to Deep Gorge, to pour out her
sorrow into the sympathetic a of
Mrs. Pollard, the minister's wife, who
hau always been her kindest ally.
"Mother," said Reuben Pollard, Il
can't stand little Mary AIMS tears. I
know I'm not rich; I've only twelve
dollars a week; but, living as we do,
that's enough to meet u simple ex-
penses. And l am twenty, and Mary
Ann is seventeen; but we are both old
enough to know our own minds. l
love Mary Ann, mother, and ( am 60
ing to tell her 500
"And l can't find it in my heart to
blame you, Reuben" said Mrs. Pollard,
her own eyes sparkling through a GER
tain suspicious mist. you'll have to
wait awhile, my son, until you've
earned enough to furnish a little room
for her; but, in the meanwhile, she is
welcome to a home in the parsonage"
Miss. D~ickson-the New York Miss
Dickson, with the high cheek bones,
the thin, sandy hair, and the receding
chin, not the Apple Farm Miss Dick
son, with the blue eyes, the pink and
white complexion, and the ripe cherry
Of a mouth-was giving audience to
her dressmaker, a few days subsequent
ly. when the clearinghouse maid-of.
all-work brought in Il letter, held, maid
of-all-work fashion, in the corner Of
her apron.
"Norah," said Miss Dickson. raising
both her hands despairingly, twill you
never learn that the letters should be
brought in on the little brass trayp"
She took the letter. nevertheless,
from Norah's grimy fingers, and care
lessly tore open its envelope.
"It's from Mr.. Capson, the New Jer.
sey lawyer who had charge of Aunt
Zcruiah Dodd's affairs" she thought.
"Now l shall know, from real official
sources, exactly how much l am
worth"
A thrill o. triumph went through
her heart as she prepared to peruse
this welcome epistle:
my DEAR MISS DICKSON Il read, II have
recently learned, TO my great regret, that you
have been informally notified, through the let.
tiers Of the gossiping good folks hereabouts, that
you are the hciress Of Miss Zeruiah Dodd, my
late client, who Is recently deceased, possessed
Of ninety thousand dollars, chiefly In Govern.
ment bonds and reliable bond and mortgage In.
vestments. This is an entirely gratuitous assump.
ton on their parts. The money was bequeathed
to q Mary Ann Dickson, 1t is true, but It was To
Mary Ann, daughter Of the late Zerubbabel
Dickson, Of Deep Gorge, Conn.,, and not, Is you
may have been allowed enormously TO suppose,
TO yourself.
Hoping that your expectations have not been
unduly raised by foundationless rumors, I re.
main, Very truly your servant,
calvin CARSON"
The letter dropped from Miss Dick.
sons ~nerveless hand.
"And l am not an heiress, after all!'
she thought. II am just as poor rs ]
was before, and here are all the dresses
ordered, the most expensive mourning
to be got in New York! And nobody
can tell what Miss Bibbington's bill
will be. Dressmakers are perfectly
constituencies"
And Miss Dickson burst into a shower
Of hysterical tears.
She spent the next summer in her hot
back room in the cheap clearinghouse.
with an outlook on tin roofs and smoke
~blackened chimneys. She could moi
carry out the Saratoga and Lake
George programmes. and she had moi
the face TO propose . visit to Apple
Farm.
} Though" she said to herself, Il an
told that little Mary Ann has bought
back the old place and fitted 1t ~
beautifully, and is living there with thu
young man she has married-one Mr.
Pollard-a regular fortune hunter, w
!. - Io,.lA &. ALo ~~c~llNS fHlH